The grass had been trimmed now, like most things in this place and the strip of land seemed so small and thin. I couldn't imagined how I found this place so big and vast when I was younger. I looked around, it was barely recognizable without the black-jacks and tall weeds. Mike had been sitting on a rock, I remember that. I had already seen him move in and it was a few days late.
I walked the perimeter for a while looking for something that looked familiar and then I saw it. Well, Mike clearly had made it more visible. A pink painted rock was very visible and I approached it. The paint was still wet like he'd just been here a few moments ago and that thought made me feel a little giddy.
Dear Maria,
The day you found me sitting here was the best day of my life. I just hadn't known it at the time. I'd been so scared of my new home and new school and there you were! And you never left. You've always been there for me. Always. It's my turn to be there for you now. Always!
. That time we nearly got into BIG trouble but managed to get ourselves out of the sticky situation.
Love,
Mike XXX
I burst out laughing immediately. That was the lamest attempt at a pun! The woman across the road, much to my mothers absolute horror had garden gnomes. One day during an impromptu soccer match in the street we broke three of them. She's nuts over those things, so with some super glue we quickly and secretly glued them all back together. To this day she hasn't even noticed. She hasn't even noticed that one of the gnomes arms is glued onto the wrong gnome body.
I rushed to her garden and went straight for the one with the weird arm. Under it's glued on foot was an envelope.
Dear Maria,
Lets' fix this. I'm broken without you.
This time it was the lump in the back of my throat and the misty eyes that stopped me from reading any further. I wiped the tear away and looked down at the next clue.
. The day we held hands for the first time.
Love,
Mike XXXX
Of course I remembered that, but I was surprised he had. I walked over to the park, it was a ten-minute walk from here and I kept thinking about how many millions of times I had walked this was with Mike over the years. I reached the park and headed straight for the roses. We'd buried him there, under the pink one. My hamster had died and Mike and I had put the little guy in a box and given him a funeral. We hadn't really know what to do, so at the end of it we'd held hands, closed our eyes and prayed for his little furry soul.
The soil was loose, as if he had just been there too. I started pushing it away with my hands. And there was the little box. Still with a ribbon around it. The letter had been slipped under the ribbon. I was temped to look and see if Hamish, yes, that was his name, was a perfect little skeleton, but decided against it.
Dear Maria,
We've come to the end of this little treasure hunt, but I hope this is just the beginning for us.
. Where we promised to be best friends forever. Until the day we both died.
Love,
Mike XXXXX
I looked over my shoulder to the tree. Our tree. I could just see the top of it peeping out over the hill. There seemed to be a faint light coming from it and my heart pounded. Was Mike there waiting for me?
I had a sudden urge to fix myself up. I tried to straighten my hair, but instantly felt the sand on my fingers turn to moist soil as they connected with my damp hair. Shit! I tried to rub it off with the back of my hand and just felt a moist smear. The water and the sand were not a good combination.
I walked up the hill slowly. I was both excited and hesitant all at the same time. A few more steps and the tree would be in sight. I stopped and took a deep breath, readying myself and continued to walk.
And there he was!
Mike
I watched as Maria came over the hill. The light was bad, but there was just enough for me to see that she was wet, and smeared from top to bottom with a large green grass strain. Brown muddy hand marks on her top, where she had no doubt tried to wipe soil away. A muddy swipe across her forehead and into her hair. A tuft was sticking up, as if the mud was acting as gel.... God she looked so beautiful. I don't think I'd ever seen her looking better. A total sight for seven-day sore eyes.
It felt more than seven days thought. It felt like I had just experienced the great Maria drought. I drank her in and my heart did some kind of corny swelling and filling, and felt like it was going to burst. A balloon being blown up to bursting capacity.
I'd thought long and hard about what to do for the final leg of the 'grand romantic gesture'. I even Googled it, and they all seemed to end in romantic candles, Champagne, red rose petals and soft music.
Not Maria. At all.
So I'd gotten a picnic blanket and had a three-course meal laid out. Sort of . Starters; Donuts. Various shapes, sizes and toppings. Main: Pizza, crammed crust, extra cheese and all the other fillings. Desert: A truckload of chocolates.
"Hey." I called out to her.
She gave
